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ESI Exercises

Environmental Sensitivity Index (ESI) maps can help oil spill responders identify vulnerable coastal locations, establish protection priorities, and identify cleanup strategies. When a shoreline is threatened by an approaching oil spill, responders must quickly decide which locations along a shoreline to protect from the spill. Making these decisions sometimes requires difficult tradeoffs.

The in-depth exercises below can help you become more familiar with ESI maps and data. The first exercise is especially useful for beginning ESI users and as an exercise for students, because it goes through the decision-making process and how ESI maps can be used to make more informed choices. The second exercise is designed for more advanced ESI users, who want to learn how to work with ESI data in multiple formats.

Training Modules

Using Maps to Evaluate Environmental Tradeoffs: This training module can be used as an exercise for middle school and high school students, as well as beginning ESI users. We provide instructions for the exercise, along with the associated materials.

Training Exercise: This training module is designed to help spill responders and planners learn to use ESI data in multiple formats. The module includes a training manual and associated materials.